that sounds about correct. If you are using absolutely NO physical weapon skills (no dual wielding skills, no bow skills, no two-handed weapon skills, etc) then, at least the way I read it, yes, the medium armor skills that increases critical strike chance of physical attacks would be pointless for you.

OTHER skills in the medium armor line might not be as useless, just so you know...

well. i have no intention of playing stealth or attacking fast by swinging my weapon. i am aiming for pure nightblade abilities like veiled strike, teleporting strike, strife and so on along with vampire abilities. now light armor regens magicka a lot faster but i prefer survivability since i am going melee range a lot, which means heavy armor is best. and since i am using no weapon abilities, the only weapon set i gain benefits from by just wielding is 1h and shield since shield counts as heavy armor and they have passives like Fortress that benefits when i am just equipping. rather than using abilities from that tree.

so... it appears i am right in my assumption that medium armor has no benefit in this scenario. or at least a lot less.

Madae wrote: »

You can make a Nightblade that uses mostly weapon skills, and uses magicka abilities that are not about damage (such as the Siphoner tree, or Stealth).

If you are a heavy magicka Nightblade like myself, it is still beneficial to have mostly medium armor to round things out. If you focus too much on one side of the bar than the other, you'll find yourself running out of things to do really quickly in PvP or Dungeons. I have near equal distribution, but slightly leaning more towards stamina for sustainable damage after I use the hard hitting magicka openers... mostly for Dungeons, though. I lean more towards magicka abilities and have a separate set of armor when I PvP.

But on the whole, yes, if you want to primarily use abilities that require magicka, light armor is probably better for you. I still mix and match, since you can receive all Light armor bonuses with just 5 pieces, so that leaves two slots free for some extra medium armor bonuses.

but why medium at all, if i have no intention of going stealth, it just seems like wasted slots. this is the build i am thinking of.

http://esohead.com/calculator/skills#ccsz9MIryv8jKvO8IPbc8GFlr8GFx48GHRb8GFlU8IrxL8IrTn8jKeA8IPSc8jKEG8C7Gbzqa6Nzqq6Nzqb6Nzqu8D7JbzdM6bzdc6qzds8F7JNzrJ6Nbux8Y7VNfJu6bfJI6NfJN8zz7zztyfm

item set 1 is for single target, 1v1 and boss fight scenarios and set 2 is more for aoe and mob kills in dungeon runs.

so again.. medium armor... doenst really benefit this at all does it.

For a weapon based build go medium, class skill heavy go light, or survivability go heavy. That is really just a guideline, as you build will ultimately being more of a mixture, but it is a good place to start.

Blocking, stealth, dodge, and sprint also use stamina.

Don't give your Nightblade leather armor just because they appear to be a rogue. Class has nothing to do with your build other than what class skills you have available to you. NB's can be tanks, mages, or healers if they want to be, and you would use armor that best serves those roles.

If survivability is all that concerns you then heavy armor and health will be important for you. However, part of survivability is killing the other person before they kill you. Something you will not likely do if you don't have the magicka or stamina to use your abilities. From your description, magicka is also going to be a primary concern, so you will need to increase your magicka pool and regen.

From your description of how you want to play, no, you will probably not want medium armor. You may, however, need to mix in some light armor with the heavy to help with Magicka for class abilities. Many people go with a 5-2 mix.

The fact the you want to fight in melee range but not use any weapon skills is going to be problematic. That makes you solely reliant on Magicka, while you will have a stamina pool that just sits there. I think you will be gimping yourself.

I honestly thing that sword and board will be good for what you want to do, though i would still highly recommend slotting some of the skills from that line, like Ransack (puncture), defensive posture, and shield charge. I know, you are probably thinking, I don't need shield charge when I have teleporting strike, but shield charge uses stamina. Ransack is almost a must have, and defensive posture will come in very handy in certain situations.


The best thing to do is not put any points into an armor type until you have played the class for a while and see where your biggest needs are. You should wear at least on piece of each, for a while so that they all level in skill, until you make a final decision. If you are surviving OK initially but constantly running out of magicka or stamina, you should modify your build accordingly. When you are sure of the direction you want to go then put points into the armor you will be using.